The Life and Times of Will Solace
by Leaf Skeletons
Summary: Various scenes from the life of this son of Apollo.
1. Chapter 1

Amanda stood with her fists clenched atop the gnarled table, scraping them across the nicks in the wood. The air of the tiny room was stale and the phone still hung from its cord, swaying slowly. From the next room, a wail began to rise.

"Stop." Amanda whispered as she pressed her forehead against the cool wall. "Please, please stop." The cries of her three month old son simply began to grow louder. "Fuck it."

Crossing into the room they shared, she picked him up and started to cradle him, cooing softly as she rocked him gently back and forth. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror; her blonde hair disheveled and the bags under her eyes dark. She was so, so tired. Being a teen mum was hard. Amanda let out a sardonic chuckle. She should have known, she thought. He was so handsome. And he could sing. She should have used protection or whatever shit they taught you about in health.

The baby boy had stopped crying and she peeled him slowly away from her body to look into his little face. He had her blonde hair that stuck up in little tufts and his- well, father's summer sky blue eyes.

"You okay, Will?" She smiled softly. No matter how much Amanda hated his father, she would always love her little boy. She had known the minute she first laid her eyes on his squirming frame in the hospital bed, dazed with tiredness. Despite the fact that her family had cast her out for choosing to keep the child, she would still love him.

She was his mother, after all.

So she lay Will back into his cot, drawing the blanket gently over his small body.

* * *

"Miss Solace, what would you like to name him?"

It was her favourite poem, the one her grandmother would read to her as a child, with her voice rustling and her velvet hands soft on her face.

_Though the water swells and the sun falls_

_ From the skies and we lose her grace_

_ He will hold you and he will keep you_

_ Safe and he will bring you solace_

She had always thought that the old woman had been talking about her father; her real father, the one who'd died when she was young, not the bastard her mother had remarried.

"Will." She smiled.

"Will as in William?"

"No. Just Will."

* * *

It was true, Amanda thought, as she stared lovingly into the face of her sleeping sun. A sliver of cool midnight air rustled in through the open window and blew her hair back from her face. She felt a little less tired.

_ He will bring you solace._


	2. Chapter 2

Nine

"How do you feel knowing that your mother's a slut, Solace!"

"Shut up, Norris!" Will shouted, throwing himself on the older boy; it was a quick fight of flying fists and repeated thudding on the cement ground before the two lads were pulled apart by one of the teachers.

"What was that about!" It was Mrs Ravi, her black eyes flashing as she struggled to keep a fuming Will away from the grinning Tim Norris. Norris was unscathed but Will had gained a swelling eye and a bruised lip.

"He stole my candy, miss!"

"It was mine, not his! And besides, he insulted my mom! He called her a... a. He just did!"

The teacher glared at Norris and let go of him. "Go see Mr Parker. Now. Detention, Tim. I'll know if you don't see him. Get moving!" Tim scowled and walked away, glaring at Will. He stared back, unflinching.

Mrs Ravi sighed and let go of him as well, motioning for him to come follow her. They made their way into her cubicle in the teacher's lounge and she gestured for him to sit on one of the spinning chairs. To his dismay, his feet dangled a little bit off the floor.

"Will." She picked up one of her biros and clicked on it, frowning. "I know you were provoked by Tim, but really, violence is not the answer. You should have come to me."

"I would have, but I didn't want to snitch." The teacher's lips curled into small smile.

"You realise I have to punish you, all the same?"

"Aw, really?"

"It's only fair." She sighed again, thinking about how it must feel to be the little boy with the older kids always ragging on him about his lack of a father. She noticed that Will's eyes were fixed on the piano in the corner of the room. "Do you play?"

Will shook his head. "I'd like to, though. It looks kinda fun."

Mrs Ravi nodded. "It really is. Why don't I teach you the basics?"

Will nodded eagerly and she did. He caught on rather quickly for a first timer and further prodding taught her that he could sing as well.

"Will," she asked as she closed the lid of the piano, watching the regretful expression on his face. "Would you like me to continue teaching you how to play?"

"Yes miss!" His eyes lit up.

"But you have to promise me one thing."

"Anything!"

"Promise me you won't get into trouble. That means no more fights."

Will frowned, running his fingers over the piano. "Even with Norris?"

"Even with Norris."

She could see him hesitating, but he eventually decided it was worth it. "Okay. I promise. But maybe not in lessons though- I try, but I can't never do very well. Sorry."

"If we have time I could help you with whatever you need." She offered.

He nodded.

"Right. Off to class you go, then. Tell your teacher to talk to me about your late-coming."

"Thanks!" Will mumbled and smiled before running off.

Mrs Ravi smiled as she opened the lid of the piano and ran her fingers over the scratched keys, listening as they smashed against each other in harmony like waves crashing against the shore. Will would be good at this, she could tell.


	3. Chapter 3

Thirteen.

"Holy cow." Will gasped as he was led out to one of the hills by Luke Castellan. The whole of Camp Half-Blood was laid out before him, tinged with a dance of sparkling gold and wild pink as the sun set; the same colours that were setting the hills of trees aflame.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" The older boy half-smiled.

"Yeah."

"I have a bone to pick with you though, Solace."

"What?"

Luke grinned. " 'Holy cow' "?

Will blushed, "Sorry. I'm a country boy, and all that. My mom loves that expression." He felt a bit low at the thought of his mum alone at home. But she had sent him here in the first place, telling him that it was important. It was a bit silly, but he kind of missed her and hoped that she was doing okay. The stormy look on Luke's face told him that he better change the subject.

"So am I a son of Hermes like you?" He asked, drawing a hand across his mouth.

"Nah. Maybe." Luke waved a hand. "Kids who come here _mostly_ get claimed- and you will, probably- and they stay at our cabin first. Hermes is the god of wanderers and all that."

"Not all those who wander are lost." Will blushed, not knowing why he said that.

Luke grinned. "Where's that from?"

"Tolkien. Lord of the Rings- I've never read past that bit- and even that took me the longest time, normal books are hard already and this one... Well, its really wordy. I just kinda like poetry."

"ADHD and dyslexia." Luke shrugged, ignoring the last part. "Survival mechanisms for us. Tell you more about that at dinner."

"Great, I'm starved."

* * *

Travis and Connor were draped over the bed, hanging over the side to look at a sleeping Will who was lying spread eagled on a sleeping bed. Snickering, they dropped a bucket-load of fake spiders all over him and he quickly lurched away, stifling a yelp as he pushed past the rubbery demons.

"Stolls!" He yelled as the two of them began to run. He got up and followed them, racing over the green grass with the pale early morning sun pushing into his sleep-crusted eyes- and then he tripped sideways into the lake.

"Geez." Will muttered as he got up, squeezing the ends of his shirt to get the water out. Without really thinking, he kicked at the lapping water, watching the sun sparkle as drops fluttered around his feet.

He made his way out and was walking back to the Hermes cabin when he passed the Athena kids, sitting in a line on the porch of their cabin, in deep discussion about some mathematical theory or something (he really didn't want to know) when one of the girls- Annabeth, was that her name?- gasped and pointed at something above his head.

A golden bow and arrow pointed at the skies was glowing.

"You've been claimed by Apollo!" She said as Will watched the symbol fade into the air.

"Nice." Will grinned as he felt an odd sort of joy course through him as both he and his wet clothes were being warmed by the rays of the sun.

* * *

"So, our newest brother." Lee Fletcher grinned as he led Will through the open door of his new home. "You can have... that bed. And I hope you play an instrument because I have this radical plan and shit- that we are going to form a band!"

"Like that will work," a voice scoffed from one of the beds in a corner. It was a boy- shorter than Will, with a ferrety face and pointed nose. "Like it will work with only three of us." The boy raised a hand at Will who returned the gesture. "I'm Michael Yew, by the way."

"Will Solace. I'm thirteen."

"Same." He pointed a thumb at Lee, "This douchebag over here's fourteen but yeah, that's about it."

Lee shrugged. "I'm sure we'll have more of us coming soon enough. Hey, our dad's Apollo, for the Gods' sake."

"Ew. Don't want to think about it!"

Will laughed and settled on the bed, watching a beam of sunlight as it snaked across the rafters. "Yeah, I play the piano. Not really band material, though?"

Lee grinned as he walked towards the back of the cabin, where a bunch of instruments were clustered, "No problem. We have a keyboard. Not that far off."

"Cool." Will smiled as he crossed over the room to join him. "What do you play?"

"Drums. Plus we all can sing so... Well, we'll have more siblings soon enough, I'll bet. You can sing right?"

"Little bit."

Lee nodded, thinking. "Can you play basketball? Because when this cabin is big enough, I'm going to start a team. We can kick the Ares's kids asses." He paused. " 'Cept for Michael, cause he's short!"

"Screw you, Fletcher!"

Will chuckled, thinking that he was going to like his new family.


	4. Chapter 4

Fourteen

"Will!" His mother yelled from the sitting room as the night air hummed with the chirping of crickets. "I'm an idiot, left a bag of groceries in the car. Be a dear, hon?"

"Kay, mom!" He yelled back and walked out into the Montana night, letting the cool air settle on his face for a minute, as he squinted at the mountains in the distance. Pulling the car door open, he realised that the vehicle needed a paint job. He decided to do it next weekend- pale blue, maybe? That was his mom's favourite colour- and grabbed the groceries, slamming the door behind him. Whirling around, he found himself face to face with a some guy.

"Hey, son!" The man grinned, showing off his perfect teeth. And sunglasses at night? Really.

"Um... Apollo?"

"Aren't you bright?" Apollo grinned, clapping his son on his shoulder.

"Have to be, son of the sun god and all that shit." He muttered shortly. Apollo noticed his tone and frowned.

"What's up, kid?"

"Nothing." Will held up the plastic pointedly. "I just have to go return these to my _mother_."

Apollo smiled again- Gods, how many times- "How's Amanda?"

"Doing fine without you." Will remarked tersely.

The smile slipped off. "Will, I know that you're pissed at me for never visiting."

Will laughed sardonically. "Forget visiting, _dad_, how about just send a paycheck, huh? Even just shitty one? Do you know how hard my mother worked just to raise the both of us when I was younger? And she never complained, never turned bitter or any of that. She worked so hard. Her parents disowned her, did you know that? Bother to find out? While you sit up in Olympus!"

Apollo looked almost contrite, "Son, I'm sorry-"

"It's my mom you should be apologising to." Will muttered as he walked towards their door. He cast one look back at Apollo with his hand on the doorknob and went back into the house without a word, leaving the God standing alone in the night.


	5. Chapter 5

"Pass me my stick, Marie!" Lee yelled. Marie paused mid-conversation with Austin and Louis and threw Lee's drum sticks over. Lee caught Will's eye and grinned. Their cabin was filling up quite nicely, so his dream of finally having a band would be realised. Will was happy for him, but it hurt a little to see how many siblings he had- and around his age too. He loved all of them, that was true, but the fact that his mother had been one of Apollo's conquests was a little too much for him to stomach. Still, he wouldn't lose any of them for the world.

"We've got a sister over here!" The door swung open, letting in a stream of light as well as Michael and a new girl. Will had seen her last summer, but she had been in the Hermes cabin the whole time. Her hair hung in dark braids and she had a pack of cigarettes peaking out of her shorts pocket. "This is Kayla." Michael announced, shutting the door behind him.

The rest of the cabin called out names and introductions as the girl grinned and settled down on one of the empty beds. Will noticed the guitar strung across the girl's back as she pulled it off.

"You play?"

"Obviously." She laughed as she set it on the bed. "Do any of you guys play? Anything?" She grinned as she leaned against the wall.

Lee took a deep breath and held up his drumsticks. Everyone groaned. "We all do! And since we finally have someone who does electric..." He paused, waiting for a response. Will snickered as everyone kept quiet. "Ah fuck it, we can finally have a band!"

Everyone burst into a round of applause, because they actually liked the idea.

"I'll start!" Louis shouted as he stood up and started to sing, "_Wildcats in the house_!"

The whole cabin erupted into a series of boos and flung pillows at the boy who sat down in surrender.

"Whatever, man," Lee chortled, holding up a sheaf of papers and tossing one of them at each of his half-siblings. "Learn this shit, you hos, we'll be playing it soon."

"Country roads?" Will looked up.

"For you, country boy." Lee winked.

"I actually like this song." Will laughed.

"Well, whatever it takes to start us off." Michael said. "Children of the Sun, everybody!"


	6. Chapter 6

Sixteen

The entire Apollo cabin was silent as the thunder crashed outside. Of course, it didn't rain in Camp, but sometimes Will really wished it could. Especially today. It seemed kind of fitting. One of them had draped Lee's bed in black and they had set up a sort of shrine for him on his nightstand. It was nothing much, really, just a bunch of pictures of all of them together. His set of drums stood next to the bed, a single lily of the valley lying in stark white atop the black base.

Will could hear Marie sniffle in her corner and went to her, putting an arm around her shoulders. She leaned her head against his shoulders and started to sob softly.

Michael Yew was tapping his fingers on his bedpost, his eyes red-rimmed.

"At least he got his band wish." Kayla croaked and ran a palm over her eyes. "Gods," she muttered softly, "I miss that idiot so much."

"Don't we all." Louis agreed. Next to him, Austin nodded.

Will could feel a lump rise in his throat. _Don't cry_, he thought,_don't. They'll need you to be strong._

"Bitch didn't get his basketball team!" Kayla screeched, slamming her hand against her headboard.

"Hey." Will got up and walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hey." He whispered, looking into her teary eyes. "Do you remember when you first came, and he was so happy to find someone who finally played electric."

Kayla smiled slightly. "Yeah, he was bleeding sunlight, practically."

"And Louis had to sing that High School Musical song?" Austin groaned.

"I was perfect, loser." Louis muttered. "I was fabulous." He tossed his arms in a half-hearted pose. Marie giggled and Will cracked a smile.

"He wanted us to do Country Roads!" Michael looked up. His face was tear-streaked but there was a small smile on his face. "Gods, what a loser."

"Hey," protested Will, "You may say you hate it, Yew, but you know you love that song deep down!"

"And don't try to deny it!" Kayla added. "We all do."

Michael shrugged. "It's dinner anyway." The six of them got awkwardly to their feet, watching as some kids from the other cabins began to stream past their window.

Will cast Kayla one last look as the rest of his cabin began to walk out the door. "We'll be okay." He said.

She grinned at him. "Yeah." She muttered.

Before he left, Will cast one last look at the desolate drums next to Lee's bed. Michael clapped a hand on his shoulder and he silently shut the door behind him.


	7. Chapter 7

Will felt like his heart was dancing in his ribcage, leaping and flying in that tiny space. He could see the armies of Kronos fringing the city. Around him, his siblings stood, their hands gripping their arrows. He looked over at Michael who grinned back at him.

"Ready, Solace?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." His fingers danced over the slim wood of his arrow. "You?"

Michael snorted. "You bet your ass. Hey is that Demeter kid... puking?" He squinted as he stared over the bridge. It was a girl puking her guts out- fear, Will supposed. He felt bad for watching and dragged Michael back by his collar.

"Let's not." He suggested.

"Let it start already." The shorter boy muttered, his feet pacing the floor of the bridge anxiously. Will cast his eyes at the skies, watching the colours swirl in an angry mash of black, grey and purple.

He was scared.

The deep thrum of a trumpet pierced through the air and Will could feel the tune in his bones. He locked eyes with Micheal once again as the army of Kronos surged forward, getting nearer and nearer and fuck, nearer.

"See you, buddy." Micheal muttered.

"I'll be here?" Will shrugged as the footfalls slammed into the ground- they were almost on the bridge. He set an arrow in and let it go, watching it fly gracefully across the air and lodge itself into one of the enemy. The rest of his cabin followed suit, their arrows dancing through the stormy sky.

Shit, he was scared.

Michael nodded, lifting a corner of his lips. "Well, we won't be together throughout this whole shit fest, eh?"

"Guess not." He turned to smile at his brother. "See you, then."

They had reached the bridge- were almost on it. The air was rent with the cacophony of clashing battle.

"This is it." Will whispered.

Michael nodded. It sure was.


End file.
